All CrossFit Girls are usually avoided and CrossFit athletes are scared when it is time to retest them, especially the one like Fran or Diane. The Annie is different, it is ones of the easiest CrossFit girls but you need to get through a few stages before doing Annie as WOD will be no challenge for you!

4 Stages of the Annie

It takes long time before Annie will be just another easy CrossFit warm up but you can get there!

Stage 1 – I suck at double unders

I still remember my first Annie when my DUs were horrible. I wasn’t able to string more than 5 in the row, but I decided to do Annie RXed even though I could just do singles.

If you are in similar situation, don’t scale the WOD! I know, it is not an efficient way to do the Annie this way and do DUs for about 10 minutes and finish the full WOD in about 15 minutes but this is the WOD that will make you want to learn the DUs!

Stage 2 – I can do almost all double unders unbroken

You are finally efficient with DUs, and you decided to do the Annie again. The first round is easy. You blaze through 50 DUs and 50 Sit Ups. You are also lucky and don’t trip the rope at 40 DUs, but now in the second half of 40 Sit Ups, you hit the wall!

Your abs start to hurt, your abdominal muscles are fatigued, and you are losing speed. Round of 30 is horrible, and you slowly get through the 20s and 10s just to finish it. Your final time is about 10 minutes.

Stage 3 – I can do all double unders unbroken

There is only one way how to get faster time when you can do all DUs unbroken, push the pace on the sit-ups. It may sound easy, but if you do sit-ups fast, you will be out of breath soon, and your abs will hurt.

You will get the best time if you find the right pace for sit-ups, the goal is not to burn out too quickly and to keep moving as fast as you can. Your final time will be about 6-8 minutes.

Stage 4 – I do Annie as a warm-up

If you are efficient with DUs, the sit-ups are no longer a problem, and you can maintain high heart rate then the Annie is no longer challenging WOD for you.

Your final time will be under 6 minutes, and you have officially become the Annie Master!

If you still looking for a new challenge try Annie with Triple Unders and GHD Sit Ups.

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What is a good time in Annie and how to get it?

On the top of the page, you can see the numbers from the WOD Time Calculator, but I will try to dig little deeper with good times to beat using the stages I mentioned before.

Stage 1 – Beginner athlete

Your goal is to finish in about 10-12 minutes, and you can beat that even if you suck at DUs.

You can push the pace on the sit-ups as you will spend most of the time on DUs and your abs will recover during that time.

You should try to eliminate the rest between failed DUs. Don’t try to do large sets if you can’t still string multiple reps, even doing DUs by one rep with minimal rest is faster than doing three unbroken reps and then resting for a while.

Stage 2 – Average athlete

Your goal is to finish in about 8-10 minutes, you can string 20-40 DUs, and you need to be smart on sit-ups.

You can get through DUs quickly in only a few sets. Your abs won’t have much time to recover.

Start slowly on sit-ups, especially with first 20 reps in the sets of 50 and 40 reps. It will allow you to keep a steady pace through the workout and finish with a great time.

During DUs make sure you only do only ~50% off your best-unbroken set, rest quickly between sets and continue with DUs. You will get better time as you won’t get frustrated that you tripped the rope before finishing the set.

Stage 3 – Advanced athlete

Your goal is to finish in about 6-8 minutes. You will do all DUs unbroken, maybe trip a rope a few times, the only problem is a heart rate and abs muscle endurance.

The advice here is similar as for an average athlete, don’t push too hard on the first 20 reps in the rounds of 40 and 50 sit-ups. After each set just grab the rope, focus and do the DUs unbroken.

Stage 4 – Elite athlete

Your goal is to finish under 6 minutes. Go as hard as you can from the beginning, eliminate all transitions and recover quickly if you accidentally trip the rope.